‘No window hour’ scheme cuts EDSA travel time

MANILA, Philippines - The “no window hour” traffic scheme of the Inter-Agency Council on Traffic (IACT) has reduced the travel time along EDSA during its first week of implementation.

Data from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) showed that travel time along EDSA on Oct. 17, a Monday, was reduced by at least 19 minutes and 47 seconds from the average travel time of one hour, six minutes and 35 seconds.

The travel speed along EDSA also increased by 8.79 kilometers per hour from the average speed of 20.80 kph, the MMDA said.

A protest staged by the lumads in front of the Philippine National Police headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Tuesday increased the travel time by 16 minutes and 23 seconds.

The travel speed slowed down by 3.27 kph on Tuesday from the average speed of 18.33 kph.

On Wednesday, travel time on EDSA was cut by 14 minutes and 25 seconds. The travel speed increased by 3.12 kph from the average of 15.84 kph.

The MMDA said travel time along EDSA on Thursday was reduced by 34 minutes and 46 seconds from the average of one hour and 27 minutes because the no window hour policy was suspended due to Typhoon Lawin.

The travel speed also increased by 10.59 kph from 15.91 kph.

With this development, MMDA general manager Tim Orbos believes that the government is on the right track in addressing the traffic woes in the metropolis.

The IACT and MMDA conducted a dry run of the policy removing the window hours for the number coding scheme in Metro Manila from Oct. 12 to 14.

Among the areas covered by the policy are EDSA, C-5 Road, Roxas Boulevard and Zapote Road as well as the cities of Makati, Las Piñas and Mandaluyong.

Under the number coding scheme, vehicles are not allowed to traverse major roads in the metropolis from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on a certain day of the week depending on the last digit of the license plate.

Motorists caught violating the policy will be issued traffic citation tickets and fined P300, the MMDA said.

The IACT said the policy would be implemented until Jan. 31 next year to help ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila.

After Jan. 31, the IACT will assess the impact of the no window hour rule and determine if it could be made permanent.